Telescopes often use large curved mirrors. These mirrors can be made from various reflective materials including glass, silicon carbide, polished metals, or any number of materials. Applications of telescopes range from common looking glasses, large observatory telescopes, to large telescopes on a satellite. Telescopes located on the surface of the earth have a major drawback of being forced to look through the atmosphere, which can cause a certain amount of light distortion that can result in blurred or distorted images and which can limit the range of the focal points. Imaging from telescopes in located above the atmosphere in space have much better ranges and abilities to focus on smaller areas and capture clearer images of distant objects. In order to launch a telescope to space it is highly desirable to reduce the weight of the telescope, and therefore the mirrors inside, in order to reduce associated costs and mission difficulties. Additionally, due to the sensitive nature of a telescope, it is greatly desirable to maintain an extremely strong support system.
Another problem arises as a result of the construction of the telescopes, and particularly with the curved mirrors often utilized. In one example, the mirrors used often have fairly large surface areas to facilitate enhanced performance. However, building a mirror with a large reflective surface having consistent and near flawless mirror curvatures and surfaces can be difficult. Nonetheless, the more flawless the curvature and the more flawless the reflective surface the greater the clarity of the image and the greater the range of the telescope.
Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated, and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended.